Keywords: East African art, attributes of power, ritual symbols, ivory, African Art Center

African art has become increasingly popular in recent years. Major European and American cities have well-equipped museums and art galleries, regularly organize numerous exhibitions, and publish richly illustrated catalogues of public and private collections. Interest is shown not only in the traditional, so-called "primitive" art of African tribes and peoples, but also in the contemporary works of original African authors. Major collections and museums of African art are being created in the Middle East, South America, and Asian countries. More and more attention to the fine arts of the African continent is being shown in China, where collecting African artifacts is becoming not only fashionable, but also profitable.

Unlike Western European countries, where the first collections were created by colonizing Africa and actually plundering its cultural heritage, Russia has never been present on the continent as a colonial power. Nevertheless, Russian researchers and travelers have always been interested in the culture and art of the peoples of Africa. Suffice it to recall the African expeditions of the remarkable Russian poet Nikolai Gumilev, who significantly expanded the collections of the St. Petersburg Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Peter the Great (Kunstkamera) at the beginning of the XX century.

Russian African studies has a remarkable tradition. During the Soviet era, the work of Russian scientists gained great respect from their colleagues both in the West and in African countries. Today, the Russian School of African Studies is recognized as one of the most authoritative in the world, which is supported by the active work of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The support provided by the Soviet Union to the peoples of Africa during the years of the struggle for independence and during the formation of national statehood, the training of tens of thousands of African specialists, the deployment of thousands and thousands of our doctors, teachers, and engineers who worked in the most remote parts of Africa to the countries of the continent, created conditions for a better understanding of Africans, their unique cultural and artistic traditions. Already in those years, many in our country began to take an interest in African art and create their own, albeit not very rich, collections. Now interest in Africa in Russia is growing.

This is confirmed by the first visits of the head of the Russian state to the capitals of a number of key countries of the continent in our modern history.

There is also a noticeable interest in African culture in our country. Prominent representatives of the business world and the political establishment are engaged in collecting African fine art, both traditional and modern. These collections have not yet become public, but over time, thanks to such collections, Russian African studies will be able to contribute to the study of the art of the African continent, to fully reveal its significance and uniqueness to the world.

Africans are very sensitive to everything that helps them to learn more about the history of their own countries, to study their material culture, largely lost during the years of the slave trade and colonial oppression. Many historical and cultural treasures have been destroyed or removed to former metropolitan areas, and African researchers are doing a lot to restore what they have lost, if possible.

Kenyans, in particular, for many years searched the UK for artifacts associated with the name Koitalel arap Samoei (1860-1905), about which everyone in Kenya knows. He is the famous soothsayer of the Nandi tribe (Kalenjin ethnic group) at one time predicted the arrival of colonizers and the construction of a railway from the coast to the depths of the tribal lands, then leading the fight against the invaders. Under his leadership, the Naidhi warriors successfully blocked the British advance by ambushing them and spraying them with poisoned arrows, which inflated the bodies of people, as my Kenyan friends claimed, "to the size of a small elephant." It was only by trickery that the British, who offered peace talks, managed to lure him into a trap. The soothsayer was beheaded and the head was taken along with the attributes of his power to the UK. It was only in 2006 that these relics were found in the closet of the house of one of the descendants of his killer. The diviner's great-grandson, a good friend of mine, Joe Sang, who spent more than twenty years searching for the remains of his ancestor, brought them to his homeland, where a museum has now been created. The signing, at our initiative, of a document on cooperation between the Kenyan Museum Services and the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera during the first-ever visit of the Russian Foreign Minister to Nairobi in November 2010, had a great resonance not only among specialists, but also among ordinary Kenyans, who hope that with the help of Russian museums they will be able to free themselves from the imposed restrictions imposed on them. they are sometimes the former colonizers of stereotypes and restore the missing links in Kenyan history.

The transfer of a collection of unique photographs acquired by the Kunstkamera from the Stockholm Museum in 1913 to the Nairobi Museum was particularly appreciated. Few people have seen such documentary evidence about the daily life of their ancestors at the beginning of the last century. The exhibition was a huge success in all Kenyan museums. It was a testament to the fact that Russia, unlike the colonial powers, which did not seem to have the opportunity to create large collections of African artifacts, has something to show, something to discover for the world of science and for African peoples who are eager to fully restore their cultural identity.

Among the collections that have been formed in Moscow over the past decades, one can name, for example, a thematic collection - " Attributes of power and ritual symbols of the tribes of Eastern and South-Eastern Africa-

riki", which includes about 1 thousand exhibits. It essentially refutes the prevailing opinion among some art historians that, unlike West and Central Africa, which were rich in sculptural images, East and South Africa produced virtually no masks or ritual I figures.

Munich ethnographer and historian Stefan Eisenhofer, in particular, noted: "Until the 20th century, East Africa was considered "no man's land" by sculptures. There were very few regions with traditions of making wooden masks, and therefore this part of the continent was ignored in publications and exhibitions of African art"¹. This is also noted by researchers Hassan Arero and Zachary Kindon: "East Africa is often ignored in reviews of African art. Masks and sculptural human figures, which are usually the focus of interest of historians of African art, are much less common here compared to the countries of the Zaire basin and West Africa. So skeptics often ask themselves: Is there any art in East Africa? " ²

It was believed that the frequent migrations of nomadic tribes inhabiting East Africa made it difficult to transport heavy and voluminous wooden sculptures and masks. Therefore, art was mainly manifested in body painting, colorful clothing and easily transported household items-wicker products, weapons, shields,headrests, leather products, gourd vessels, etc., often decorated with beads and rich carvings or paintings. ³

African art experts note that only some of the settled Bantu tribes in East Africa have masks and sculptures, and museum collections usually contain only masks and ritual figures of the Makonde tribe, which lives in southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Often, however, artifacts produced by other tribes in the region were attributed as makonde products.⁴

The uniqueness of our collection also lies in the material from which the presented items are made - bones of wild animals (elephants, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, warthogs, antelopes, etc.). Bone artefacts are relatively rare in the collections of world centers of African art. They are just an addition to exhibits made of other materials - usually made of wood. Among the peoples of East Africa, bone was the main material from which sculptural images were created.

Historically, it was bone products, primarily ivory, that were considered the most valuable among African tribes. In Africa, where there were state entities before colonization, at least half of the extracted ivory went to the property of the local ruler, who attracted the most skilled craftsmen to make ritual figures and masks. Their owners could only be leaders and elders, the most respected warriors, sorcerers and healers who enjoy unquestionable authority. In the secret societies of some Eastern Congo tribes, only their top leaders were allowed to use the ivory insignia. Everyone else was content with woodwork. The age of the artifacts presented in the collection is from 100 to 500 years. For the most part, they were made long before colonization. The age of these bone products is indicated by their color-from black-brown to light orange. Color is determined not only by time, but also by a long stay near a smoking hearth, under the sun, and most importantly, by constantly smearing figures and masks with palm or other vegetable oil. To appease the gods, they always wiped their hands on these items after eating. The figures were often doused with the blood of sacrificial animals and hung out to dry. During transportation and in the intervals between rituals, ivory products were placed in leather skins or calabashes (containers made of dried gourds) and filled with vegetable oil, mainly palm oil. Africans really appreciate the patina that forms on them over the years.

The presented artefacts fully meet the criteria used to compile collections of all famous museums of traditional African art, as well as the largest private collections. These are items that have been used for many decades, and sometimes even centuries, in various rituals, in medicine practice, and in the practical life of high representatives of the relevant African communities. They were once acquired directly from African families who inherited them from their ancestors-elders or medicine men-soothsayers-

ley of various tribal formations. And sometimes these or other artifacts were exchanged for cows, which had to be bought - in pastoral tribes, cattle are still the main value, and money is not very popular. There are no items made for sale in the collection, let alone for tourists.

It features artifacts from about 80 Nilotic, Kushite and Bantu tribes of South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, DR Congo, Angola, and the Republic of the Congo. The most numerous are the ritual products of the Dinka tribe (South Sudan), Makonde (Tanzania), Baganda (Uganda), Midjikenda (Kenya), as well as from the Eastern Congo (Lega, Sengye tribes, etc.).

From the attributes of power - a variety of maces (rungu) and" fly swatters " of elders, necklaces of leaders, including from the teeth of predatory animals, bracelets, head restraints. The bugles used to announce alarms, summon warriors, or conduct rituals and weddings are quite diverse.

Ritual objects are represented by necklaces, bracelets, rings of sorcerers-soothsayers, healer's attributes (vessels, spoons, pipes for potions), as well as figures for conducting witchcraft rites - causing rain, ensuring harvest, fertility, good luck. There are amulets from evil spirits, from damage to the family, etc. In addition, there are ritual wedding and dance masks, masks - signs of the hierarchy of secret societies.

Part of the collection are ritual statues and masks made of wood, mostly from areas of Eastern Congo that have been hit by clashes in recent years. The most representative are the seemingly aggressive and intimidating Nkiti figures designed to protect communities (settlements) from evil forces and diseases; fetishes representing the souls of ancestors, inside which there are magical components (bishimba); thrones of leaders, seats for performing rituals, etc.The age of the artifacts included in this part of the collection is 70-100 years.

I would like to hope that over time in Moscow, as well as in other self-respecting capitals of the world, there will be a Center for African Art that trains experts in art criticism and includes museums of traditional and modern art, halls for displaying collections of foreign museums and private collections, for showing films about African tribes, a bookstore, " Afrikanskaya shop " with souvenirs, etc.

This museum can be based on personal collections collected by our diplomats and other specialists in Africa. For the most part, these most interesting collections are now gathering dust in the attics of cottages, in closets and other unsuitable places for works of art. Serbia gives us an excellent example. In Belgrade, since 1977, there is a Museum of African Art, created on the basis of the collections of the Yugoslav Ambassador Zdravko Pechar, who worked in West African countries. Despite the collapse of greater Yugoslavia, this UNESCO-recognized art history center, for which the state once allocated a separate building in a prestigious quarter of the capital, continues to be carefully preserved and is actively working.

It is characteristic that many veterans of the diplomatic service and their heirs, as well as famous people of modern Russia who have become interested in Africa in recent years, are already willing to share their collections with the Moscow Center for African Art for free.

^{Eisenhofer Stefan.} 1 African art. Taschen. Bonn, 2010. P. 88.

^{Arero Hassan} 2, Kindgon Zachary (Ed.).The Horniman Museum, 2005. P. 5.

^{Siegmann William C.} 3 African art. A century at the Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn Museum, DelMonco Books. Munich, Berlin, L.. N.Y., 2009. P. 266.

^{Eisenhofer Stefan.} 4 Op. cit. P. 88.

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